Michelle Vanstrom, Master Naturalist

Niagara's Native Species

LibraryWelcome to the MDV Naturalist Library. Please help support independent bookstores. You can order from our favorite: The Book Corner, 1801 Main St. Niagara Falls, NY 14305. Jeff Morrow: 716-285-2928. Email: info@fallsbookcorner.com.

Gary L. Hightshoe devotes a two-page spread to each plant, including detailed overview and close-up drawings, a map of the plant's geographic range by county, and a host of useful growth and preference information. Describes form, branching, foliage, flower, and fruit. Gives specifics on preferred habitat such as soil type, moisture, temperature, and associated species. Gauges each plant's tolerance for urban conditions and susceptibility to insects, diseases, and wind. Essential for landscape designers and those who wish to use native species.

Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants

While it has become clear that invasive plants should no longer be used, finding alternate problem solvers has not been easy. This volume is designed to provide [state departments of transportation] DOTs, as well as other land managers, designers, and gardeners, with a range of regionally native alternatives. (p6)

The following checklist was used to select the recommended alternatives that most closely match the corresponding invasive species:Is the plant locally or regionally native?Are the flowers or fruit the same color?Is the inflorescence the same shape and size?Does the plant bloom at the same time?Is the foliage similar in form, texture, and color?Is the overall shape and size of the plant similar?Does the plant have multiple seasons of interest?Is the root system similar?Is the plant easy to establish and maintain?Will it grow in the same hardiness zone and under the same site conditions? (p11)

Growing & Propagating Showy Native Woody Plants

Bir first explains the uses and value of woody plants in the landscape and outlines special techniques for their propagation and cultivation. He then describes more than ninety species of native plants, most illustrated with a color photograph. Included are some plants familiar to most gardeners, such as dogwood and redbud, and others that are likely to be new, such as oak-leaf hydrangea and bristly locust.

The information is offered in everyday terms rather than the technical language of professional horticulturists, making the book accessible to both beginning and veteran gardeners. (back cover)

Native Plants of the Northeast by Donald J. Leopold

Donald J Leopold "Nearly seven hundred species of native trees, shrubs, vines, ferns, grasses and wildflowers from the northeastern quarter of the United States and all of eastern Canada are included. Natural plant communities of eastern North America are described, providing a foundation for the choice of native plants for different areas and climates--or a variety of sites in the garden--as well as for restoration of native plant habitats." Inside book cover.

Urban and Suburban Meadows Bringing Meadowscaping to Big and Small Spaces

About the Book

Catherine Zimmerman's Urban & Suburban Meadows, Bringing Meadowscaping to Big and Small Spaces, addresses the problems caused by the extensive planting of non-naitve grass lawns across American. In ignoring the environmental consequences of such landscape planning, ecosystems are being destroyed and replaced with chemically maintained monon cultures. https://themeadowproject.com

"We are slowly recognizing that the failure to understand and revere place has unleashed a toxic assault on the conditions and communities of life that are the umbilical cord to our own human existence. This recognition cannot happen quickly enough, not only our physical survival, but also for the survival of our souls. This guide is a remarkable inner and outer compass for helping any community anywhere rediscover the ground of its being and its road map to any future worth living." (inside cover) Authors: Karen Harwell and Joanna Reynolds

From the Publisher

The pressures on wildlife populations today are greater than they have ever been and many gardeners assume they can remedy this situation by simply planting a variety of flowering perennials, trees, and shrubs. As Douglas Tallamy points out in this revelatory book, that assumption is largely mistaken. Wild creatures exist in a complex web of interrelationships, and often require different kinds of food at different stages of their development.

There is an unbreakable link between native plant species and native wildlife. When native plant species disappear, the insects disappear, thus impoverishing the food source for birds and other animals. Fortunately, there is still time to reverse this alarming trend, and gardeners have the power to make a significant contribution toward sustainable biodiversity. By favoring native plants, gardeners can provide a welcoming environment for wildlife of all kinds.

Healthy local ecosystems are not only beautiful and fascinating, they are also essential to human well-being. By heeding Douglas Tallamy's eloquent arguments and acting upon his recommendations, gardeners everywhere can make a difference. (www.bn.com)

When we use chemical fertilizers, we injure the microbial life that sustains healthy plants, and thus become increasingly dependent on an arsenal of artificial substances, many of them toxic to humans as well as other forms of life. But there is an alternative to this vicious circle: to garden in a way that strengthens, rather than destroys, the soil food web — the complex world of soil-dwelling organisms whose interactions create a nurturing environment for plants.

Biography

Jeff Lowenfels has been writing a weekly column for the Anchorage Daily Newssince 1977. A member of the Garden Writers of America Hall of Fame, he is a leading proponent of gardening using the concepts of the soil food web. After working at his father's hobby farm in his youth, he developed a life-long love of gardening that has led him to writing countless articles, hosting a popular gardening television show, and founding a successful program for soup kitchens called "Plant a Row for the Hungry" that is active in 48 states and has resulted in over 14 million meals fed to those in need. A native New Yorker, he is a Harvard graduate and now works as an attorney in Alaska. (www.bn.com)

Eastern Forests

This field guide includes all the flora and fauna you're most likely to see in the forests of eastern North America. With 53 full-color plates and 80 color photos illustrating trees, birds, mammels, wildflowers, mushrooms, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies moths, beetles and other insects.

Learn the food and feeding habits of more than 1,000 species of birds and mammals, together with their distribution in America, their migratory habis, and the most important plant-animal relationships. Covers the food habits and range of more than 300 common species of American birds, divided into five major units: waterbirds, marshbirds and shore birds, upand game birds, songbirds, and birds of prey. Includes fur and game animals, small mammals, hoofed browsers, fish, amphibians and reptiles. Third section is devoted to all the genera of plants that furnish food to our wildlife--woody plants, upland weeds and herbs, marsh and aquatic plants, and cultivated plants. Final chapter ranks wildlife plants according to their value.

Nearly 700 caterpillars (butterflies and moths) east of the Mississippi, from forest pests to garden guests and economically important species. 1,200 color photos and two dozen line drawings. Full-page species accounts cover almost 400 species, with up to six images per species including an image of the adult plus succinct text with information on distribution, seasonal activity, foodplants, and life history.

Caterpillars of Eastern North America

Living Waters Reading the Rivers of the Lower Great Lakes

March 7, 2009. Just Words and Wild Ones Niagara will host a conversation with Margaret Wooster at The Book Corner. A question posted on the Great Lakes Town Hall website (www.greatlakestownhall.org) asked Wooster to comment on the fundamental message of the book: "The message here is to respect the magnitude of what we don’t know, and to compensate for the limits of our ecological knowledge by practicing adaptive management—proceeding incrementally with small, reversible actions."

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